Wearing apparel



INVENTOR Alfred Sieinberser fig A ORNEYS A. J. STEINBERGER WEARING APPAREL. Original Fiied Dec. 4, 19:55

A ril 4, 1939.

Patented A r. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WEARING APPAREL ration of. Delaware Original application December 4, 1935, Serial No.

, 52,774. Divided and this application November 19, 1937; Serial No. 175,368

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in wearing apparel and more particularly to improvements in garnients making up mens and 'womens outer wear such as suits, dresses and the like. This application is a division of my application, S. No. 52,774, filed December 4, 1935.

An important object of this invention is the provision of an improved method of making wearing apparel in which wrinkling and puckering of the material at the seams is eliminated.

Another object of this invention is the production of garments which retain their original appearance and shape fora longer period of time than those heretofore made and which have enhanced wearing qualities.

In one aspect this invention comprises the provision in garments of a reinforcing membe r of fabric which is'united to the fabric of the garment at the hems, seams or other places where the edges of the garment have been stitched in place or one to the other. The employment of reinforcing members at the hems, seams and similar places prevents the puckering of the material and the formation of wrinkles.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and will be pointed out in the appended claims.

While this invention is applicable to manufacture of mens and womens outer apparel in general, it will be described in connection with a man's suit, for example, as is shown in the accompanying drawing wherein Figure 1 is a view of a front section of a coat with parts broken away to show the strip or tape of my invention in position along the edges thereof.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of a mans coat or jacket,

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3 in Figure 2, showing a pocket edge made in accordance with this invention,

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of a pair of trousers with a section broken away to show the construction along the pocket edge, and

Figures 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views taken along lines 5-5 and 6-6, respectively, in Figure 4.

Like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

In the manufacture of mens suits, a number of sections of cloth of predetermined shape or pattern are sewn together, there being added padding and stiffening material, a facing of the same or different material and a lining when required. For example, in making a mans coat such as shown in Figure 2 of the drawing, two sections of suiting material, previously out to pattern,'are sewed together. A part of such a coat is shown in Figure 1 of the drawing.

Heretofore, it has been necessary to exercise extreme care in the construction of the garment and also in the pressing and/or cleaning of the garment for the reason that careless handling of the same caused the material thereof to be pulled apart at the seams, thus causing wrinkling and puckering of the fabric at the pulled seams. In accordance with the invention,

however, a reinforcing member of thermoplastic material is inserted in or along the seams of the garments and is coalesced to the fabric of the This invention is not only applicable to the manufacture of mens suits"; but also to the manufacture of mens o'vercoats', robes, wind-breakers, womens dresses, suits, 'coats, jackets, as well as other articles such as hassocks, boudoir pillows, and in fact to the manufacture of any garment or article where stiffening materials and/or open or fiat-felled seams are employed.

According to this invention strips of thermoplastic material are placed in oralong the seams which it is desired to reinforce. A thermoplastic material and the material of the garment or article are then coalesced by subjecting the assembly to heat and pressure.

Any suitable thermoplastic material may be employed in this invention. herein described farbric made of or containing organic derivatives of cellulose, such as organic esters of cellulose or cellulose ethers, have been found to be eminently suitable. Examples of organic esters of cellulose are cellulose acetate, cellulose formate, cellulose propionate and cellulose butyrate, while examples of cellulose ethers are ethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose and benzyl cellulose. The thermoplastic material may be placed in the reinforcing material as yarns or filaments, or the reinforcing material may have a non-thermoplastic base with a coating or film of thermoplastic material on one or both surfaces.

The invention will now be described in greater For the purpose to the edge as possible.

detail with reference to the drawing, but it is to be understood that the following description is given by the way of example orily and is in no way limitative.

In Figure 1 is shown apart or section of a mans coat comprising an outer body 1 made of any desirable suiting material. The coat is built up from a number of sections cut to pattern to fit the body of the person who is to wear the same, the part of the coat shown in Figure 1 being about one-half of the front of the finished coat. A facing 8, running from the bottom of the coat to the upper edge of the lapel and forming the outer face of said lapel, is attached at the edge of the suiting material of the coat in any suitable manner. This facing may be of the same material as the coat, or it may be of a different material. For example, a tuxedo or other outer garment for formal evening wear may have a facing of satin or silk. A lining 9 is sewed to the facing and to other parts of the coat, as is well understood in the art.

In accordance 'with one adaptation of my invention a strip or tape ll containing thermoplastic material may be placed around the marginal edge of the coat as shown at l2, and along the bottom of the coat as shown at l3. In the normal practice of manufacturing a coat embodying my invention the facing 8 is placed on the suiting material with the front surfaces of the facing and suiting material in contact with each other and the edges thereof together. The tape of my invention is then placed on the facing and the three elements sewed together as close The facing is then turned so that it contacts with the inner surface of the suiting material thus forming a seam such as is shown, for example, in Figure 6. After turning, a finishing stitch is applied very close to the marginal edge. The seam is then subjected to the action of heat and pressure which causes the tape to soften and become attached to the facing and the suiting material.

By the construction outlined above, that is,

the coalescence of the fabrics of the facing, the

coat and the tape, the seam will not pull apart except by the use of unusual force and, therefore, the wrinkling and puckering of the fabric along the edge of the garment will be prevented.

Instead of sewing the tape II to the facing 8 and the fabric of the coat, the tape may be placed along the edge of the coat after the facing is sewed thereto, that is, between the hem formed by the facing. If desired, two tapes may be used, one in the hem formed by the facing material and one in the hem' formed by the suiting material, which hems are formed after the facing and suiting material are sewn together and turned.

The collar of the coat, indicated by reference numeral l4, may also be provided with a tape ll provided along the edge thereof. When this tape is coalesced to the fabrics of the collar by heat and pressure, it acts to prevent wrinkling and puckering of the edge thereof.

In Figure 3 there is shown an open-felled seam formed in .accordance with this invention, with which seam the pocket of the coat is formed. This seam may be made by inserting a tape I! of the same material as the tape ll between the outer fabric of pocket flap l6 and the lining H. The pocket assembly "may be stitched together in any convenient manner and then subjected to heat and pressure to cause all the layers of fabric forming the pocket flap to coalesce. By constructing the pocket in this manner the wrinkling and puckering of the fabric along the edge thereof is avoided and stitching around the edge of the pocket flaps may be with this invention strips of thermoplastic material l9 are sewn to or are placed between the fabric 20 of the trouser material and subjected to the action of heat and pressure to coalesce the strips and the trouser material together. This construction reinforces the material of the trouser leg along the seam as well as the seam itself and avoids wrinkling and puckering. If -desired, the legs of the trousers may have incorporated therein a tape of thermoplastic along those places where creases are to be formed. In this manner substantially permanent creases are formed in the trousers when the tape is subjected to the action of heat and pressure to join the seams to the material of the trousers.

The edges of the pockets of the trousers may also be reinforced by placing a strip or tape 2! along the edge of the pocket forming a seam such as is shown in Figure 6 wherein the material of the trousers22 is sewed and coalesced to the tape 2!.

The material of the garments may be of wool v or any other suitable material. The present invention however, is also applicable to garments made of cotton, artificial silk material, silk or linen and in fact of any known textile material. However, this invention is of particular importance in the manufacture of mens suits of socalled tropical material, for example, linen and tropical worsted fabric.

In order that the desired degree of stifi'ness and adhesion be obtained upon heat pressing the assembly formed of several layers of fabric including the tape of this invention, either in the presence or absence of water, it is of importance that there be present in the said assembly a plasticizer, softener or swelling agent for the derivative of cellulose of the thermoplastic material employed. Where the body or exposed portion of the article being made is of non-thermoplastic material, the plasticizer or softener may be applied to theassembly after it is formed by dipping the same into a solution containing the plasticizer or softener. However, it is preferable to apply the plasticizer to the reinforcing strip or tape and in this case no wetting of the exposed layer of the garment or article is necessary. While it is preferable to apply the plasticizer to the fabric containing the derivative of cellulose, it may be present in any of the layers of fabric which contact the fabric containing the derivative of cellulose. However, if the exposed surfaces of the outer layers of the garment or article are not to be modified, the plasticizer should be absent from those layers and be applied to the inner layers only.

Any suitable plasticizer for the derivative of cellulose may be employed, which plasticizer may or may not be soluble in water. The plasticizers may be any of the high boiling solvents or softening agents as, for example, the aryl sulphonamides such as para ethyl toluol sulphonamid, the alkyl-phthalates such as dimethyl phthalate, the dialkyl tartrates such as dibutyl tartrate, the alkoxy esters of polybasic organic acids such as arsassa the mono alkyl ethers of polyhydric alcohols such as diethylene glycol ethyl ether ester of phthalic acid, thealkyl esters of phosphoric acid such as triethylglycol phosphate, the aryl esters of phosphoric acid such as tricresyl phosphate, the mixed allwl and aryl phosphates such as ethyl glycol dicresyl phosphate, and camphor.

The amount of plasticizer present is preferably relatively large and on the order of from less than 40% to 150% or more of the weight of the derivative of cellulose present in the assembly of fabrics. Where the article comprises a derivative of cellulose body portion and an inner layer of cotton fabric, the amount of plasticizer applied to the cotton fabric may be as much as the cotton fabric will absorb and retain, i. e, the cotton fabric is saturated with the plasticizer.

Where the garment or article is to be formed of a textile material containing thermoplastic yarns of filaments of an organic derivative of cellulose as the outer or body portion, the reinforcing material such as the tape ll may be any suitable fabric containing a plasticizer. However, where the body portion of an article is formed entirely of non-thermoplastic material, reinforcing tapes H, I 5, l9 and 2| must necessarily contain a thermoplastic material. If desired, however, both the outer or body portion of the garment or article and the tape may contain yarns and filaments of an organic derivative of cellulose.-

To obtain good adhesion and stiifening properties, it is preferable to'have water present during the application of heat and pressure, but it is to be understood that this is not essential to the successful working of this invention. Any aqueous liquid or steam may be applied to the assembly of fabrics in any suitable manner. Thus, water may be applied to the assembly of fabrics in any suitable manner. Thus, water may be applied by spraying or brushing the fabric with water or by padding the material with water or by dipping the assembly in water. Where the outer or body portion of the garment or article does not contain organic derivatives of cellulose, in place of water there may be employed, asanaidincoalescingthelayersoffabrictogether, an aqueous solution of alcohol with or without a plasticizer. If steam is employed, it is preferable to employ a wet steam and the same may be injected into the material during the pressing operation in a manner similar to that of pressing a woolen fabric.

Any suitable device may be used, for pressing the assembled fabrics to cause them to adhere together. For instance, the fabrics may be pressed with hot irons, or the fabric may be passed between pressure rollers, one or both of which are heated, or between a heated pressing iron or plate and a cold board or surface. The heating device may be heated to a, desired temperature, for instance, 80 C. to 180C. or more, and the pressure may be of any desired degree, for instance, from 10 to 600 pounds or more per square inch.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an outer garment, means for reinforcing the seams of the garment and for preventing wrinkling and puckeringv of the outer material of the garment along the seams thereof, said means comprising a. narrow strip of textile material, containing an organic derivative of cellulose, confined to the region adJacent to the seam ALFRED J.BTE1N.BERGER. 

